CHAPTER FOURTEEN
"Oh! Barry, there's an intersection coming up," Caitlin said as she tried to help point him in the right direction. He was currently running after a few perps on motorbikes, finding it hard to catch them all when they were zooming in and out of the streets, through the heavy traffic. "Hurry!"
"This should slow 'em down," Cisco said, as he pressed a few buttons, turning the lights from green to red. This didn't seem to do anything, in fact it confused them all even more because the two motorbikes split up, going in opposite directions as they tried to get away, leading Barry unsure of which direction to head in.
"Guys, which way?" Barry yelled, confused as to which direction they had headed in.
"Left," Cisco said as Caitlin replied at the same time. "Right."
"Right," Cisco corrected, Caitlin now changing to "Left."
"Stop!" Sophia yelled through her comm. "Some of us are also trying to focus here guys." And with that Cisco apologised sheepishly through the comm.
"You both hear you're telling me two different things right?" Barry asked, trying to get a clear answer form the two.
"Barry, listen up." And at this Sophia had turned her comm. off for the moment, trying to focus on what she was doing. She was on the other side of Central City, trying to deal with what looked like a suicide jumper off one of the tallest buildings in the area. Her body moved effortlessly through the air, gliding like a bird, her hair rippling in waves behind her as the wind threaded through her brown locks. She focused her eyes, allowing them to glow their usual cobalt, basically acting as her own personal night vision goggles. That's better. She took a sharp left turn, circling around the building that she was headed toward to, figuring it'd be smarted to face the person rather than be behind them. When arriving up there, planting her feet slowly on the ground of the rooftop she saw that there was more company than originally perceived.
There were two people up there in fact. One with a gun, and the victim standing on the edge of the rooftop, obviously, trying not to die. Another day, another psycho.
"Really man," Sophia commented to herself as she walked up behind the assailant with the gun, causing him to jerk backwards, turning around and aiming the gun at her, frightened as she appeared out of nowhere.
"Stay where you are, or I-I'll shoot," His shaky voice rang out. He didn't seem like your typical criminal, but then she noticed the blood shot eyes, the rolled up sleeves, and the dark bruises on his arm. Great a druggie, and he's high while committing his crimes. Genius planning there folks.
"Hey, hey, easy. No need to get violent," Sophia said, holding her hands up in front of her, the perfect strategical position. He thought she was being submissive, but in fact she had the perfect aim to knock the gun out of his hands, and catch the victim from falling off the ledge- if need be. "Why don't you put the gun down and we can talk about this alright?" Sophia suggested, placing one foot forward to try and step closer to the guy, and that's when he got agitated and pointed his gun back at the victim. Dammit.
"Move any closer, and I'll shoot him."
"Alright. Staying where I am," Sophia said, acting as though she wouldn't move at all. She formed a tiny ball of electrical energy in her hand, aiming it at the weapon in his hand. It hit him a moment later, causing the gun to go sailing in the air, falling to the ground on the other side of the rooftop. As soon as this happened, the mugger came running forward towards her, ready to attack and she effortlessly surrounded him in a bubble. At first he looked confused, and then he was just furious as he banged against the force field trying to get out. The victim looked over in fear as he watched what she did to the mugger, but relaxing at the prospect of it all being over.
"T-Thank you so much," the guy said to Sapphire, and she nodded with a smile. He looked no older than 25 years old, probably around her age if she was guessing. She walked over to him, ignoring the other guy who kept screaming that he wanted to get out. She held out her hand to him, and he grabbed onto it, carefully walking over, into the middle of the rooftop, safe away from the ledge.
"No need, it's my job." Sophia gave him a reassuring smile, before placing the guy who she know found out was named Lucas, in a bubble of his own, levitating them as she flew down, transporting them to ground level. She let Lucas out, who just seemed to be staring at her in awe, as she used her powers.
"The CCPD will be here soon." Lucas nodded silently, unsure of what more to say, and as she had predicted, seconds later, she could hear the sirens. She grabbed a pair of hand-cuffs off a police officer, cuffing the mugger as she released the force field, not wanting him to cause any more trouble that night.
"Officers," She inclined her head in their direction, giving them a nod of thanks as she handed over the suspect.
"Sapphire." They acknowledged and with that she bent her knees, shooting up into the sky like a rocket as she flew back to Star Labs, hoping to arrive before Barry, which was usually unlikely considering he had super-speed. She had perfected her landings over time, not having no issue at all as she came to a slow and steady descent, hovering just enough off the ground to get through the doors of Star Labs, flying through the halls and into the cortex.
"Finally, we've been waiting for you!" Cisco exclaimed, and Sophia rolled her eyes.
"Maybe if you weren't so busy getting directions wrong with the scarlet speedster over there, you would've been able to talk me through some stuff," Sophia countered, taking off her mask and placing it on the table beside her, stretching her muscles as she lowered herself onto the ground, walking around like a normal person.
"Come on, we need a picture."
"Pretty sure rule number one of having a secret identity is not taking picture of yourself in your super suit without a mask on," Barry stated, raising his eyebrows at Cisco's comment.
"True that," Sophia chimed in. "Plus my hair is a total mess from flying around everywhere," Sophia commented, as she tried to pat it down lightly, and make it look slightly more presentable. Barry ran over behind her, pulling her into a bear hug from behind sending chills down her spine as he held her close, his touch never failing to get her heart racing.
"You always look beautiful." She rolled her eyes and he pressed his lips to her cheek for a second too long, receiving a blush on her cheeks in response.
"Oh, come on! Please?! This is just for us," Cisco pleaded, and Sophia sighed, rolling her eyes as she walked forward out of Barry's hold to stand next to Cisco, ready for a photo. "Come on Barry, this is to document all this. Who knows? Maybe people in the future will want to know how this all happened."
"All right, well if you want the future to have the whole story, then we all need to be in it," Dr. Wells said.
"First, let me put on some makeup?" Caitlin asked.
"The future does not care about your makeup." Both Caitlin and Sophia rolled their eyes and Sophia whispered over to Caitlin that she looked great, and there was nothing to worry about. Caitlin sent Sophia a grateful smile, and they all gathered up close, getting into their positions.
"Big smiles. Three, two, one." Barry called out, pressing the button on the camera, running back just in time for the flash to go off and then running back to catch it before it hit the ground.
"Ha!"
"Does that count as a selfie?" Caitlin asked, and Barry nodded as he looked over at the photo, proud that he had taken such a good shot of the team.
"Absolutely," He replied. Cisco grabbed the phone of Barry, gaining the biggest grin as he checked it out.
"Sick." Cisco proclaimed and Sophia laughed giving him a high-five as she walked around to the table. Her phone went off a second later, and she pulled it out of her pocket, answering it.
"Hello." She answered, and she was surprised to hear her dad's voice on the other side of the phone. She usually spoke to him a few times a week, but lately having been busy with work and Star Labs she felt ashamed that she hadn't spoken to him properly in over two weeks. She reverted back to Cantonese, a language that her father preferred to speak in, something he felt comfortable with having grown up with it. She told him she was sorry that she hadn't called in so long, and he teased her saying that he was still alive and well, wondering when she would come visit him next. He lived in a small country town, a few hours' drive out of Metropolis, in Kansas and she hadn't been to properly visit him since just after the particle accelerator explosion in December 2013. As she continued her conversation with him, Barry looked over at her in complete and utter surprise. He had no idea that she could speak another language, let alone so fluently, and that made him feel guilty, knowing that she had always taken so much effort to get to know everything about him, but there was still a lot of Sophia's family life that he had no idea about.
"Is she speaking Chinese?" Barry asked dumbfounded, and Cisco stopped what he was doing, looking over and listening in to hear what she was saying, which was quite difficult considering that Sophia had a motor mouth when it came to speaking other languages.
"Uh- no, well sorta, Cantonese actually to be specific," Cisco clarified.
"I didn't even know that she spoke another language."
"Oh no, buddy she speaks five," Cisco chuckled at Barry's naivety.
Barry blinked looking between his girlfriend and Cisco. "Five?" Barry said with a deadpan expression. She is way out of your league Allen.
"Yeah, five."
"If I remember correctly, she's fluent in French, Spanish, Japanese, Cantonese and Latin," Caitlin listed off. "Even though Latin is sort of a dead language," she said shrugging her shoulders. "Not to mention English of course, then it would be six."
Sophia had finished with her conversation, promising her dad that she would call him back again in the next few days. With a sad smile she told him that she missed him, and that she loved him. After she hung up, she stared at the phone in her hand, feeling guilty that she had been such a hopeless daughter, not having called in such a long time. She felt especially bad since he lived on his own, and there wasn't anyone to check up on him. Barry noticed that she had gone silent and walked up to her, putting his hand on her shoulder, grabbing her attention.
"Hey, everything alright."
"Hmm. Yeah, yeah I-I uh, just haven't spoken to my dad in a while, and I feel guilty," Sophia admitted, giving Barry a small smile.
"I didn't know you spoke Cantonese," Barry stated, changing the subject, and she scrunched up her nose as she thought about it, something Barry found adorable.
"Oh." She said, forgetting that she'd never mentioned it. "Well I guess you know now," She said shrugging her shoulders.
"Cisco said you speak over five languages, how could I have never known that?" Barry felt guilty that he didn't know, like he hadn't gotten to know her enough. He knew what kind of coffee she liked, that she named her cat chewie after Chewbacca from Star Wars because ever since she was a kid she's had an obsession with the whole saga, he knew that she sometimes had to wear glasses because she hated putting contacts in, claiming that whoever invented them were the spawns of the devil, but he didn't know that her dad lived in Kansas, or that she spoke five languages, and even though it was just small things like these, he felt like a horrible boyfriend for not knowing.
"Well… I don't like to flaunt it. I had a talent for it, so I studied them during high school… extra credit and all. Plus the only people I usually speak in other languages with are my patients, or my dad… and my second cousin in Metropolis when she feels like being secretive," Sophia said, yawning as she did so. Patrol was tiring, especially after working a 12 hour shift at the hospital.
"You have a second cousin that lives in metropolis?" Barry asked, with a surprised expression on his face. Sophia didn't like to talk about her family all that much, and he wondered if it was because it was as painful as his.
"Yeah," she said. "I'm sure I've mentioned her before, Lana, Lana Lang." Barry shook his head, not remembering the name. "Oh well, not a big deal." Barry moved closer to her, wrapping his arms around her, lifting her up and running them both over to her apartment.
"W-what was that for?" She said, as she gripped her the arm rest of her couch where she was now sitting. She looked over at Barry and he gave her a guilty smile.
"I feel bad," Barry confessed, a small frown on his face.
"Why?" She laughed, looking at his face, unsure of what was running in that gorgeous mind of his. She grabbed his hand, rubbing circles on the back of it.
"I feel like you know so much about me, but I don't know a lot about you."
She blinked in confusion. "What do you mean? Of course you know stuff about me."
"I know-I know, but your past, your family…" Sophia's face soured slightly, and she pursed her lips. She turned her body, her back now leaning against the couch, her body facing her TV, and not Barry.
"I-I don't like to talk about my family because I don't have a lot of it…" and she realised what a stupid statement that sounded like especially since she was talking to Barry about it, the king of family drama. "Guess it isn't fair right. I mean, you have a bad past and you've told me everything," Sophia breathed out. "I like to listen to others problems, and not talk about my own, it's a bad habit I know." She sighed, looking down at her hands in lap, turning her head to look at Barry.
"You don't have to if you're not ready," Barry said, not wanting to force her to divulging any secrets that she wasn't ready to expose.
"I'll talk, you listen?" She asked, with a sad smile and he nodded, moving closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, as they sat next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, leg to leg.
"My mother died when I was about 14," Sophia said softly, trying to keep her emotions in check. Every time she spoke about it, she couldn't help but cry, thus why she rarely spoke about her mother. "I was at home, by myself that night… Dad was working late, and she had gone to get us some milk and choc-chips from the shop because I insisted on baking cookies that night," Sophia laughed softly, single tears slowly trickling down her cheeks, and Barry wiped them away with the pad of his thumb as she continued. "She was driving home, and as she did, she, uh, she had a heart attack… l-lost control of the car, a-and…" her voice was shaky, and she sniffed, closing her eyes to stop the tears. "We had her funeral a few days later, it hit Dad and I hard, and then it was j-just the two of us left. The hardest thing was getting through to all these milestones, and she wasn't there. Graduating high school, going off to college… becoming a nurse, h-hell becoming a superhero. I-I can't share any of that with her, and it just hurt…, so I stopped talking about her, internalised it so it could never hurt me again. That's why I never talk about it, because I blame myself. I-If she had the heart attack at home… I would have been able to help her until the paramedics came, she would have been alright. B-But she wasn't, and i-it was my fault," Sophia was crying at this point, her words coming out shakily, as she buried her head into Barry's shoulder, who had brought her close, wrapping his arms around her and trying to comfort her. He understood how she felt, every single emotion that had run through his own heart and soul when he lost his mother.
"I'm sorry," Barry whispered as he held her close, her grip tightening around his shoulders as she continued to cry. It was a few minutes later that she had calmed down, sniffling occasionally. She leaned back, looking at Barry with tear stained cheeks, and puffy eyes that looked tired.
"I'm sorry, god I'm such a mess," She sniffled, wiping her eyes with her palm. "It's been over ten years and I still can't talk about it without exploding into tears."
"Hey, hey, you're okay." He said, wiping the tears off her cheeks. She gave him a sad smile, and he leaned forward pressing a long kiss on her forehead. "It's not your fault, don't blame yourself for what happened. I know how you feel. God knows I did the same thing every day for at least a year when I first moved in with Joe. I probably do it now too but, we just have to keep reminding ourselves that it's not our fault, there's no way we could have controlled what happened... We should cherish the memories we did have with them, and that way they'll always have a place with us."
"You're too good to me," Sophia breathed out, leaning into Barry's touch. "I'm glad I finally told you, I-I haven't told anyone that story in a long time."
"I'm glad too." He leaned down, his lips about to touch her own when his phone went off with a repetitive beep. He groaned, and she laughed, her mood lightening up instantly.
"Are you laughing at my pain?" Barry asked squinting at her as she gave him a cheeky smile. She shook her head, the grin still stuck on her lips.
"Are you saying it's painful not to kiss me?" She asked with raised eyebrows, and Barry could see her mood shifting into one she was happy with. "That's quite the compliment Mr. Allen." Barry rolled his eyes, wanting to just lean down and kiss her, but his phone was still beeping. "I think you better check that." He sighed, pulling out his phone to see Joe messaging, needing to speak with him at the CCPD.
"I better get going."
"I'll see you tomorrow." And with that he leaned forward, surprising her as his lips landed on hers as he kissed her soundly before he left, leaving her breathless and sitting on her couch alone as he zoomed out of her apartment. Tease, she thought to herself as she walked into her bedroom, changing out of her super-suit and taking a long nice shower to relax after tonight's dramas.
Sophia woke up the next morning with a text message from Cisco saying that Dr. Wells house had been trashed by someone. Her tired eyes were no longer there as she stared at the message with worry. She called Cisco immediately, asking if Wells was alright, which he was. Cisco then apologised sheepishly for not adding that into the rest of the message. He said that they would be meeting at Wells place, and she said she would get a ride with Barry, since she had no idea where Wells even lived.
It was a quarter past eight in the morning and Sophia was still lying in bed. She didn't want to get up, seeing as though it was her day off, even though she was on-call in case they needed her in at the hospital. Scrolling through her phone, she checked some emails, sending out yet another message to Anna to call her. She was getting worried, having not heard from her in a long time. She grudgingly got out of bed, jumping in the shower, and washing her hair since it wasn't salvageable at all after leaving it unwashed for three days. She scrubbed her body down with her favourite pomegranate soap, inhaling the sweet scent with delight. She didn't know why she did this, but she made a small energy bubble, with a hole at the top, filling it with water, closing the top once the bubble was full. She moved it around in her hands, the bubble fluid and flexible in shape, moving the water around inside it. She admired the sight, amazed at what her powers allowed her to do. She wondered what it would look like on a larger scale and if it was even possible, but then again, everything these days seemed possible. She levitated the bubble above her head, and with an excited smile she released it, sending a wave of water free-falling on her head. She squealed as the cold water hit her body, but laughed her heart out as she played around with her powers. God I love this. She then realised she had probably spent too much time in the shower, and was probably running late considering she was meant to meet the team at Wells place by 9. She squeezed the excess water out of her hair before stepping out of the shower, and wrapping her towel around her body, securing it at the front by tucking it in. She walked out of her bathroom into her bedroom, trying to find some clothes when she figured she would call Barry to save time.
Sophia then dialled Barry's number, waiting for him to pick up.
"Hey babe," Barry answered and she quirked a brow at his greeting.
"Babe?" she questioned scrunching up her nose in distaste as she picked out white top and a pair of dark was denim jeans, throwing it over her shoulder where it landed in a pile on her bed.
"Don't like it?" Barry asked and she could imagine the look on his face.
"Mmm. Reminds me of the movie, which I actually hated as a kid, so… yeah. It's a no from me."
"Honey bear?"
"Cliché," Sophia commented, taking a coat of her hanger, and throwing it on the growing pile of clothes that would be her outfit for the day.
"Sweetie pie?"
"Mmm no."
"Cupcake?"
"Barry," Sophia whined at his terrible nicknames and his laugh echoed in her ear, the melodious sound sending tingles down her spine.
"Lang it is," Barry decided, and she smiled, humming in agreement, glad he had stopped with all the silly names. She knew that should would only ever call him Allen or Barry, and if she did have to choose a name it would have been the flash, but then that sort of defeats the purpose of a secret identity, so she would be sticking to Allen.
"Mmm… so I wondered if I could ask a favour…"
"Shoot," Barry spoke through the phone.
"Do you mind picking me up on the way to Dr. Wells place? I have no idea where he lives," Sophia said, and he hummed a yes.
"See you in a flash," Barry assured her, not letting her get anything in before he ran over. With a sudden realisation of her current attire, she yelled into the phone for him to wait, but it was evidently too late.
"Wait-," a whoosh noise was all she heard, and Barry was standing in front of her, both of them with wide eyes she clutched the towel closer to her chest. "A second."
"O-oh my god." He swore that his face was as red as a tomato, and he felt so bad because he couldn't stop staring. "I am so sorry," he said, turning around using his super speed.
"I-It's alright," She said, face palming with the hand that wasn't holding up her towel like it was her lifeline.
"I-I'm just going to go wait," Barry said pointing towards her living room and she nodded, and then made a weird look on her face at herself seeing as though he was turned around and wouldn't have even noticed her nodding her head.
"Y-yeah y-you do that." She gulped and he rushed out of there in embarrassment, sitting outside. She shut her door, sliding down against it and to the floor, her heart beating like crazy. Oh my god whyyyyyyyy she thought. She sighed, getting up off the floor and getting ready as quick as she could, slipping on her grey coat to finish the outfit as she moved into the living room, throwing her hair into a braid as she rushed to get ready.
"Hey," She said, and Barry turned around, with Chewie in his arms, petting the cats back as she slipped on a pair of red converse.
"Hey, again, I'm so sorry-," Barry started to apologise, and she waved it off as she tied her laces.
"It's alright, let's just forget about it." Sophia said a rosy pink blush tinting her cheeks. They hadn't reached that stage of their relationship yet, so this was more awkward than it should have been, and she wanted to erase it from her memory. Barry nodded, and set Chewie down carefully on the floor and she ran over to her little cat tent in the corner, snuggling in her blankets.
"Guess we better get this show on the road." Barry walked over, picking her up in his arms, and one of her hands went around his neck, the other resting on his chest as he supported her back with one arm, and his other underneath her legs. "I know this is totally inappropriate and you'll probably hit me for it later, but, you have the cutest beauty spot on the top of your thigh," Barry whispered and she looked at him shocked, and he laughed before zooming them off to Wells house, not leaving any time for her to berate him.
He set her down with windswept hair as they arrived at Wells house, well across the street, so that no one would have seen Barry run in. Barry grasped Sophia's hand, intertwining their fingers as they walked across the street to see Joe pull up in his police car.
"Joe! How are you?" Sophia asked, giving him a hug. She hadn't seen him for at least two weeks, since she was kidnapped by Captain Cold.
"Good thanks, kiddo." She smiled, glad that he was alright, she was worried after everything with the Reverse-Flash that he would still be shaken up, but he seemed to be fine. They walked in together, and Sophia stared at the house in surprise. The place was huge, and she wondered why when Wells lived here by himself, but then she guessed since he had the money, why the hell not.
"Look, Joe, I apologise for all of this. It just, it really feels like a case of so much for so little," Dr. Wells explained wheeling over to the trio that had just walked in. Sophia was glad to see that he was in one piece, looking like he wasn't hit at all by the glass, which was good news. "The police should not have been called. I got a prank call before this all happened." Wells obvious protest to the police investigation cause Sophia to frown, wondering why he was so hesitant to have them check things out, unless he knows who did it. Sophia turned her head to Barry, only to see he wasn't there. He was inspecting a piece of glass that was laying on the tiled floor, his brow furrowed as he concentrated on analysing the way the glass had broken.
"Sort of looks like more than just a prank Doctor Wells," Sophia probed at him and he sighed, with a grimace as she kicked a bit of glass that was on the floor.
"Well, there are those who feel I did not suffer enough for the particle accelerator explosion of last year, and some of them act on it."
It was then that Caitlin and Cisco came running through the large wooden front doors, successfully making it past the police guard standing out front of the crime scene.
"Dr. Wells," Caitlin called out as she walked up to him, but was yet to receive a response as Wells looked in another direction, clearly stuck in his thoughts.
"Dr. Wells are you okay?" Caitlin asked, with a worried expression as she stepped forward, only to have him respond, turning his head to face them.
"Dr. Snow, I'm-I'm fine. A little chilly. Otherwise, I'm fine," Wells insisted, "Hello, Cisco," Wells greeted and Cisco inclined his head with a small nod in response. "Make yourselves at home as best as you can, I'm gonna make a hotel reservation."
"Oh, this place is so sick," Cisco breathed out as he looked around the place with his mouth slightly agape.
"Yeah, hey, what took you guys so long?" Barry asked as he walked up to the group, an evidence bag in hand.
"We got lost. We've never been here before," Caitlin admitted, and Sophia was surprised. Caitlin had worked and known Wells much longer than she had, and she thought that she would have at least been here, even if was only once.
"Really? Never?"
"He tends to keep his private life, private," Caitlin responded and Cisco shrugged his shoulders.
It was then that Joe walked back into the house, coming up to talk to Barry and Sophia while Cisco and Caitlin took a look around at Dr. Wells place.
"I canvassed the street. No other reports of vandalism, no strange cars." Sophia frowned. It couldn't have been just some random prank, it was too calculated, too specific… too personal.
"Get this, Wells says he's right here when it happened," Joe said, pointing to the middle of the room. "All that glass shattering down around him and he can't walk? And he didn't have a scratch on him," Joe said suspicious of the true events of the night. There was no logical explanation to how Wells could have escaped the rainfall of glass if he was in the room.
"There's no point of impact," Barry said as he showed Joe the glass. "No rock, or bat or any solid object went through these windows. It's as if they just shattered themselves."
"What if it was a meta-human?" Sophia threw out there, and they all looked at each other with worried expressions before Sophia and Barry walked over to Wells to confront him. There was something he was hiding, and they didn't like it one bit.
"This wasn't some teenage prank?" Barry asked and Wells visibly sighed.
"No, it wasn't," Wells replied.
"But you don't want our help. Why?" Sophia asked.
"Because I already know who did this. Hartley Rathaway."
"Who?" Barry and Sophia looked at each other with confused expressions, having no idea who Hartley Rathaway was.
"Who is Hartley Rathaway?" Barry asked, crossing his arms.
"Hartley Rathaway is the prodigal son. And he has returned." Wells started to explain, all of them back at Star Labs. "Hartley Rathaway possesses one of the finest scientific minds I've ever encountered."
"Any ties to Rathaway Industries?" Joe asked, and Wells nodded.
"His grandfather founded the company, his father expanded it, and Hartley was set to inherit the throne…" Wells trailed off, and they figured he wasn't finished.
"What happened?"
"He came out to his parents." Ouch, poor break Sophia thought. "Old money, old values. They were estranged when we met, but brilliant. I couldn't have built the particle accelerator without him," Wells confessed, and the guy didn't sound too bad…that was until Cisco opened his mouth a moment later.
"You guys have never mentioned his name," Barry mentioned and Cisco visibly stiffened, a look of distaste upon his face.
"That's because Hartley had a challenging personality," Caitlin said trying to put things lightly.
"What she means is he was mostly a jerk. But every once in a while, he could be a dick," and at Cisco's comment, Sophia struggled to keep her laughter contained.
"Let's just say that Hartley, like many outliers, had trouble relating to his peers."
"Yes, but he was always your favourite," Cisco pointed out.
"The chosen one. He referred to himself like that." And all the thoughts about the poor guy had gone down the drain and she realised what a stuck-up rich boy he sounded like. She wasn't looking forward to meeting this guy.
"So if you two were close, why would he target you?" Barry asked, leaning against the table.
"Hartley left Star Labs about a year ago after we had a disagreement."
"About what?" Barry prodded further, and Wells closed up again, shutting him down.
"Look, don't worry. We'll stop him. I won't let him hurt any of you."
"Let's get back to my lab all right?"
"I could've gone my whole life without seeing that Jerk again," Cisco mumbled under his breath and Sophia patted him on the shoulder.
"There, there."
"Hey," Sophia called Barry's phone from Star Labs. "Lang here."
"I think I know why you're calling," Barry said as he and Joe got informed of the 911 calls, notifying them that Rathaway Industries was under attack.
"Meet you there?" Sophia asked, already in her suit, placing her mask on her face as Cisco gave her the directions. She was wearing the 2.0 version of her suit, it had now been modified, and fitted with a cape, to aid with the aerodynamics, making her flight faster and smoother than before. But cisco had also fitted it with an option to retract the cape and vice versa which was extremely convenient when engaging in hand to hand combat.
"Make it a race." Barry said, with a grin, already changed into his suit in the second it took for her to reply.
"Ugh, not fair." Sophia said, flying out of Star Labs to meet Barry at Rathaway Industries. She flew through the sky, pushing her body as fast as she could, trying to get there before Barry even though she knew that would never happen.
"Get down on the ground!" The police officers shouted, as Rathaway continued to attack the building, smashing the glass erratically as he sent out pulses of energy on the same frequency as the glass, shattering it immediately, leaving the shards to rain down on the ground. He then turned around, aiming his gloves at the CCPD officers, trying to send a pulse of energy towards them and Sophia landed there just in time, throwing up a shield, blocking his attack.
"It's over Rathaway." Barry said as he ran over, pushing him to the ground.
"You know my name?" Rathaway asked with a smirk. Sapphire flew over next to The Flash, slowly starting to form small spheres of energy in her hand in case Rathaway tried to get away.
"I know some names too." Rathaway stated, obviously trying to buy sometime. "Caitlin Snow. Cisco Ramon. Harrison Wells." This seemed to anger Barry who took a step forward, ready to take him down.
"I can hear the radio waves emanating from your suit. About 1900 megahertz. Is that them on the other end, listening? Are they gonna hear you die?"
"No." Sophia said, "They're going to hear you get your ass kicked," Barry finished running at him, but Rathaway had blasted him, sending Barry flying back and smashing into the glass-piece behind him. Sophia threw the spheres of energy, electricity crackling through them at him immediately, her waves of energy hitting Rathaway hard enough to send him flying backwards. This gave Barry enough time to get back up off the ground, and run at him, tearing the gloves off his hands, as he grasped Rathaway by his shirt.
"Looks like you're not as smart as everyone says," Barry taunted with a smug smirk, having him cornered.
"Smart enough to have figured out who Harrison Wells really is. You see I know his secret." Barry and Sophia gave each other confused looks at this comment.
"Let's get going," Sophia said flying off, and Barry nodded, running himself and Rathaway over to Star Labs where he planned to throw him in his own cell.
"Being scooped up by a guy clad in head-to-toe leather is a long-time fantasy of mine, so thanks." Rathaway said to Barry as he dragged him out of the elevator, Sophia towing behind.
"Watch it, Rathaway." Sophia said, narrowing her eyes at the back of Hartley Rathaways head. She could swore she could hear his mind ticking as they walked him in to Star Labs.
"Well, well, well, the gang's all here." Hartley exclaimed as he saw Caitlin, Cisco and Wells. "You've lasted longer than I would've thought Cisco."
"And you didn't last ten seconds against Sapphire and The Flash," Cisco threw back, crossing his arms as he glared at Hartley, Sophia smiling smugly at Cisco's comment.
"I was thinking of calling myself Pied Piper," Hartley mused, and Cisco pursed his lips.
"Hey! I assign the nicknames around here… although that one's not bad."
"Caitlin, never did get that wedding invite," Hartley taunted, and Caitlin took a step back, hurt by the comment.
"Shut the hell up," Barry said to Hartley, disgusted by how he was treating Caitlin. Sophia had enough of his insults and threw a force field across his mouth, stopping him from speaking.
"Stay in front of me." Cisco pushed Hartley in front of him, in the direction of the Particle Accelerator, Sophia trailing behind, not wanting to leave Cisco alone with him.
As Cisco scanned Hartley, who was now sitting in his own little padded cell, Sophia stared at him with calculating eyes, watching as he stared at her, unable to say anything because she still had the force field covering his mouth.
"The scanner is detecting foreign metallic objects in your ears. Take 'em out." Cisco ordered.
"I can't," Hartley protested, "I suffered head trauma when Star Labs exploded. My hearing was severely damaged. Without these, I'm in pain you can't imagine." Hartley said, and Sophia sighed, unsure of what do to. If what he was saying was true, she didn't want to cause any more problems considering they had already defeated him.
"We all lost something that night," He directed towards Sophia and she kept her cautious eyes on his form, unsure of what he was trying to get at. "Very clever re-purposing the anti-proton cavities into confinement cells. Wells idea, I'm sure," Hartley said.
"It was mine actually," Cisco threw back with a proud smirk.
Rathaway then changed to Spanish, thinking it would throw Cisco off, and he figured it would be a little fun considering Cisco had his little Sapphire playing guard as she listened into the conversation.
"Little Cisco," Hartley sang in Spanish, his voice taunting. "Still begging for his master's approval."
"If you're so smart, why are you in a cage?" Cisco threw back just as easily, stepping forward as he did so, mocking Hartley.
"Don't make this harder for yourself Rathaway." Sophia said casually from her spot, the Spanish flowing off her lips fluently as though she had been speaking it all her life. Hartley looked at her with surprise, and changed to French.
"Sapphire, the girl who couldn't catch Captain Cold, what makes you think you can catch me." Hartley threw out in French and Sophia stepped forward, until she was standing directly in front of him.
"The fact that you're already locked up," She replied with ease in French, fluttering her eyes innocently, as they glowed Sapphire, Hartley glaring at her as she crossed her arms.
"Enough Hartley." And Rathaway shut his mouth, as soon as Dr. Wells voice emanated in the room. Sophia and Cisco turned back to see Wells rolling in. "Give us a minute." They both nodded and moved to leave the room. Sophia was just glad that she could leave and get changed.
"See you soon, Cisco," Rathaway called out, his arms crossed as Cisco walked out of the room, calling back out at him.
"Doubt it!"
"God, I wish I had taken a language in high school," Barry commented as he watched the video feed of Harrison and Rathaway talking, and in Latin.
"Trust me, it's not all that interesting," Sophia mentioned as she walked in, now changed back into her clothes from before. She hugged Barry from behind, closing her eyes and enjoying the contact as Barry smiled, placing his hands over hers that rested on his waist. Her head was resting against his back as they both listened to the conversation Wells was having with Hartley.
"How did you know we were working with Sapphire and The Flash?" Wells interrogated.
"I wrote a hexagonal algorithm tracking all of his sightings, extrapolating a theoretical exit trajectory. In other words, every time he ran from the scene of a crime, he ran in this general direction. It was a bit harder to find your Sapphire knight, she was sighted multiple times flying in different directions, making it harder to locate, but eventually she slipped up, and I caught her on a traffic cam headed towards Star Labs, making the deduction easier than I thought."
"You are brilliant," Wells said, a look of admiration on his face as he spoke with Hartley. "Any anguish you have been through because of me was never my intent."
"Not bad as far as heartfelt apologies go… Except that wasn't for my benefit. That was for you Flash, and your little girlfriend Sapphire." Sophia's grip loosened on Barry as she moved to view the screen with calculating eyes. She was so sick and tired of Rathaway, and she only met him this morning.
"Feels good to have the great Harrison Wells behind you doesn't it? But one day, this man will turn on you," Hartley began to laugh "in a flash, and even you won't see it coming," He spoke, face directed at the camera in the corner of his cell. "I only hope that he leaves you in better shape than he left me. If you're lucky, you'll only be dead." The comment left a heavy feeling in Sophia's gut, bringing up all the doubt and suspicion she had towards Wells to the forefront of her mind, but she shook it off. She knew that he was a good person, but sometimes good people do bad things. The particle accelerator was an example for that, but Wells was making up for it now, so she ignored the comments that Hartley made. After all he was a pathological liar.
"Because every day, I have to live with the agonising, piercing screaming in my ears," Hartley chuckled darkly, "I almost forgot, I told your pets I know your deep, dark secret, Harrison. Have fun letting them in on that one." And with that Harrison turned around, rolling out of the prison and into the cortex, where the rest of the team were waiting for him.
"I assume you were all listening…" Wells said as he moved into the room, receiving a nod from Sophia. "Well, Hartley was telling the truth. I have not been honest with you. With any of you." Wells said, and Sophia gave Barry an unsure look. Barry took a deep breath and shrugged, sliding closer to Sophia where they leaned against the table.
"The accelerator… Hartley warned me that there was indeed a chance that the accelerator could explode," Wells admitted, and everyone had looks of shock written on their face. "His data did not show just that there was a risk, but it was a real risk. And yet, I made the decision that the reward, that everything we could learn and everything that we could achieve, that all of that simply outweighed the risk… I'm sorry." After dropping that bombshell, everyone was frozen. Sophia's gaze immediately went over to Caitlin who looked like she had been destroyed.
"The next time you choose to put our lives, and the lives of the people that we love at risk, I'll expect a heads up." And with that Caitlin and Cisco had walked out of the cortex, and Sophia gave Barry a look, indicating that she was going to go after them, not wanting to leave them on their own after the bad news. He nodded, staying behind to talk to Wells.
"After the explosion, when everyone else left you, Caitlin and Cisco stood by you. You owe them more than an apology."
"They might soon get more than that with Hartley so intent on sending me to the next world."
"You broke their trust. Our trust." And with that Barry was too gone, now leaving Wells alone in the lab to mull over the events that had just transpired.
After trying to console both Caitlin and Cisco, the two decided they needed some time alone. Sophia was then left to her own devices, walking around Star Labs aimlessly when she literally ran into Barry. She would have tripped, falling onto her butt if it wasn't for his fast reflexes. Barry caught her, his hands securely wrapped around her arms, to help her back up.
"Why does this always happen?" Sophia grumbled as she got back up on her two feet. Barry laughed, his hazel eyes lighting up with amusement.
"I guess this means you're falling for me?" Sophia blushed in embarrassment, trying not to smile at his comment.
"Wipe that cheeky grin off your face." She said with a playful frown, pretending to be annoyed when in reality she knew that she had fallen for him a long time ago.
"How about I treat you to some coffee at Jitters? I could use a warm drink to cheer me up." Barry suggested and Sophia nodded with a sweet smile. He picked her up, his soft lips pecking her cheek as he ran them over to Jitters.
They were now seated at a table, sitting side by side, Sophia's head resting on Barry's shoulder as she stirred the hot chocolate in front of her, waiting for it to cool down to a reasonable level, not wanting to burn her tongue…again.
"I can't believe that he lied about what happened," Barry said, rubbing the side of his face.
"I know," She agreed. It wasn't the first time that this had happened, Wells had lied before, and though he had apologised, and his excuses had been relevant, it still made the suspicion surrounding him grow larger in Sophia's mind. "It just makes me wonder, if he could lie about something this big… what else is he keeping hidden?" Sophia looked at Barry, and he sighed deeply in response, unsure of how to reply. Just as they were sitting there in silence, sad expressions on their faces as they thought over what Wells had revealed to them this morning, Iris had spotted them, bringing her drink to come and sit across from them.
"We all can't be having the worst day ever."
"Oh, I think we are," Sophia mumbled, sitting upright and taking a sip of her drink, enjoying the warmth and smoothness of the chocolatey goodness.
"And I was really looking forward to getting some good complaining in."
"Well, fire away," Barry said and Iris leaned forward, and Sophia knew this was going to be some good stuff judging by her expression.
"Okay, well, turns out that the real reason they hired me is because they think I have some sort of connection to Sapphire, and The Flash, which I don't… not anymore... And, I've been teamed up with Mason Bridge, who is a legend, who I admired, before he told me I was a worthless, talentless millennial." At the mention of her alter-ego's name, Sophia froze up a little bit, wondering if she could help Iris in anyway, but figuring how well those secret rendezvous went with The Flash and Iris, she thought it was better to leave that alone for a while.
"Ouch," Sophia cringed, that was pretty bad. Sophia felt bad that Iris was being treated this way, she wondered why some people in this world could be so cruel to others and not feel bad, it was a mystery.
"Well, the people we admire aren't always who we'd like them to be," Barry said, and Sophia sighed realising he was referring to Wells.
"Well said," Sophia mused and Iris nodded in agreement.
"So, I'm screwed."
"No, look if this Mason guy doesn't see what a talented journalist you are, then he's probably a lousy writer," Barry rationalised, trying to convince Iris that it wasn't anything to worry about.
"He won the Pulitzer," Iris deadpanned and Sophia nearly chocked on her drink, coughing. "Twice, I think." Iris sighed.
"Oh my," Sophia said with wide eyes.
"Good for him," Barry said and they all burst into laughter.
"You're an amazing writer Iris, Mason might not see that now, but one day, you're gonna get your big break, and he's going to regret the day he uttered those words," Sophia said, giving Iris an encouraging smile.
"Thanks guys, having someone believe in me, it's um a small really, really big thing," Iris said genuinely, and both Sophia and Barry smiled at her, sad that she was going through a crappy time.
"Yeah."
Sophia's phone buzzed, and she excused herself from the table, letting Barry and Iris continue the conversation. She picked up, not expecting to hear Dr. Well's distressed voice on the other side of the line.
"There's been an incident… Hartley Rathaway has escaped Star Labs. We need you both here now," Dr. Wells told Sophia and she sighed, frustrated that their efforts to keep Rathaway contained were fruitless.
"On our way."
"And hurry, Cisco and Caitlin were both injured." At that Sophia had hung up, running over to Barry and letting him know what was going on. They gave Iris some bogus excuse, and felt horrible for doing so, but Cisco needed medical treatment, and Caitlin was in no position to provide that right now. Barry rushed them off to Star Labs, placing Sophia on her feet where she jumped into action straight away. Wells explained to the both of them what happened as Sophia tended to the wound on Cisco's head, examining him with the help of Caitlin's knowledge, as the doctor rested in the seat beside him, still feeling nauseated from when she was knocked out.
Sophia threw her gloves off in the bin after she had finished cleaning the blood off the side of Cisco's face, brushing a piece of his hair back. She felt horrible that he was caught in the explosion, but glad that he hadn't sustained any injuries worse than what he had presented with. Just a few small abrasions, one laceration on his forehead, and a concussion… Alright so more than a few bumps, but he was safe and that's all that mattered. She felt strange being so over protective of her friends, but over the last year she felt that they were more like family to her than friends anymore. She moved over to Caitlin now, checking that she was alright, smiling when Caitlin responded that she was feeling better.
"Welcome back, Mr. Ramon," Wells announced as Cisco started to come too, his eyes opening slowly, squinting from the harsh white lights that illuminated the room.
"Ooh. Oh, man," Cisco groaned as he sat up with the help of Barry. "Caitlin?" Cisco asked, worried for her safety, as that was the last thing he remembered.
"Hey, she's fine," Barry reassured him, and Cisco nodded, relieved that no one else had gotten hurt.
"You on the other hand, have a concussion. So lay back down." Sophia instructed as she walked over to the other side of his bed, lifting the back of the bed up so he could sit up. "You're lucky."
"Please tell me you got him," Cisco asked, and Sophia shook her head and he sighed, not liking what was going to happen next.
"I guess the attack on his family's company was a fake out so we'd catch him, and give him direct access to Star Labs…" Sophia figured and Caitlin nodded, agreeing with her theory. But the real question was why did Hartley do this? What did he gain out of it all?
"Why?"
"I should've known he was up to something… this is my fault." Barry ran a hand through his hair frustrated that Rathaway had tricked them all. He blamed himself, for not knowing sooner, and for not being there to stop him.
"Hey, man, this is on me too," Cisco said, and Barry shook his head. Caitlin rolled her eyes at their behaviour, and gave Sophia a pointed look, trying to get her to fix things, she wasn't in the mood to deal with any arguments right now.
"Guys, there's no way we could have known," Sophia tried to tell them, but both boys insisted on blaming themselves.
"But I shouldn't have left before-," Barry started but Wells cut him off.
"This is no one's fault but mine. I earned the blame, I'm not interested in sharing it. Hartley doesn't think I've paid for my crimes. And he's right. He won't stop until I do," Wells declared, and even though they were all still disappointed with him, they felt horrible that Rathaway was still out there, and plotting to hurt him.
"Dr. Wells, where are you going?" Sophia called out as he started to leave the room.
"To earn back your trust." And with that the doctor was gone, leaving the rest of them in the room to ponder what would happen next.
It had been a good half-hour later, and Wells had held a press conference at the CCPD, explaining his actions to the general public of Central City. He admitted to knowing that there was a very high calculated risk of the accelerator exploding, but the fact remained that he still moved forward with the plans to turn it on that very night. Iris was there, and had asked a few questions, and Sophia had cheered with a smile, and fist-bumping Barry as they watched it on the TV from Star Labs. She was so happy that Iris had gotten a response out of Wells unlike her co-worker Mason, who was a prime example of an arrogant, ignorant baby boomer. After watching Wells speak on live TV, and explain what happened, finally being honest for once, the disappointment that had bubbled up to the surface had dissipated, and they all knew that they would forgive him. People make mistakes sometimes, and they agreed that everything would be good between their team, and the leader.
The interview was over within a few minutes, and Sophia switched the television off, grabbing Barry's hand and pulling him out of the cortex, yelling out to Caitlin that they were heading to the roof, and if she needed anything to call.
So there, the two young superheros sat on the edge of the rooftop of Star Labs, fingers intertwined as they watched the sunset. They sat in silence for a while, enjoying the view, and the company. It was then that Sophia spoke up.
"I like coming up here sometimes, it's always so serene…so relaxing..."
"Mmm," Barry hummed in agreement, leaning his head on her shoulder, his face, nuzzling in the side of her neck, causing her to squirm, giggling as his lips ghosted over her neck. "Very relaxing."
"Funny, Allen." He placed a small kiss on her neck in response. He missed being able to sit down with Sophia and just enjoy time together as a couple. It had been hard since the man in yellow had come back, his reappearance putting everyone on edge.
"It's crazy isn't it? Our life. Always on the run, in between work, saving people's lives, and trying to catch meta-humans," Sophia breathed out. She knew she had accepted it a while back, but it was still terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time.
"It's definitely insane, but I'd rather do it with you than anyone else in the world," Barry said with a goofy smile, moving to look at her face.
"That is one of the sweetest things anyone's ever said to me." And much to her surprise, Barry actually blushed, and she thought it was the most adorable thing. She smiled sweetly, leaning forward, and placing a firm kiss on his lips. He responded automatically, as though it was the most natural thing in the world, moving his hand to her curled hair, cradling her head in his hands as they kissed. The kiss turned from loving and sweet, to that of a faster pace and passion pretty soon. His kisses never failed to get her heart racing, blood pumping, leaving her yearning for more. This moment didn't develop further because their phones interrupted them… well, Cisco more like it.
"Cisco," They mumbled in unison.
"We better get going," Barry said, standing up, and putting his hand out for Sophia to grab. She smiled and grasped it, being pulled up in a single motion. They both straightened out their clothes, tucking shirts back in, and tidying up their appearance when Sophia looked up at Barry to see his hair everywhere. She bit her lip, trying to bite back a laugh.
"Your hair's a bit…" Sophia said pointing towards Barry's hair, and shook her head, moving to pat it down herself. She combed through his ruffled brown locks, styling it how it normally sat, smiling now that now didn't look like a total mess.
"Thanks."
"No worries, it was sort of my fault," She said, sticking her tongue out and Barry laughed, picking her up and running them both downstairs where Cisco stood, with his arms crossed, and a bandage on his forehead, which Sophia had to admit didn't make him look angry, but just hilarious instead. Their joyful moods soon turned to serious as Cisco told them that Hartley was on the line. Barry looked at Sophia, and she nodded understanding the look on his face. They both ran, getting changed into their super-suits whilst Harrison spoke to Hartley.
"What do you say? One last game of chess?" Hartley's voice rang out of the speakers, just as Sapphire and The Flash were getting ready to leave Star Labs, ready to take him down.
"You and I both know that the winner of the game is the one who makes the next-to-last mistake, and you clearly have a move in mind."
"You're right, and I'm already at the board. So why don't you move your precious scarlet and sapphire knights while I take out a few pawns." After this, they heard screams and then the call cut. Barry paced around the room anxiously, and Sophia put on her mask.
"Cisco, where do we go?" Sophia opened up the skylight in the middle of the room, the glass window sliding open, ready to fly out of Star Labs.
"I can't trace the signal. He could be sending his messages- from anywhere," Cisco rushed out, as he typed furiously on his computer, trying to triangulate Rathaways location.
"Cisco, scan for seismic activity. If Hartley's using sonic blast, the vibrations could case tremors," Wells ordered, and Cisco was on it within seconds.
"Look, over here," Cisco pointed out the spot on the map, zooming in on the larger screen, it looked like Hartley was at the dam. "Quake activity, but no fault line," Cisco explained.
"The keystone Cleveland Dam," Caitlin said and the two superheros left in a flash, Sophia turned around in mid-air as she shot into the sky, her body rocketing through the sky as she tried to get there as fast as she could. There was a bridge over the dam, and Rathaway was most likely attacking innocent civilians, and Barry couldn't save them all and take Rathaway out at the same time.
"Barry, Sophia. Do not underestimate him," Wells cautioned, "He's brilliant."
"Well, it's a good thing we're even better."
"Rook to knight four." Rathaway yelled as he used his sonic blast, smashing a car, sending it over the edge of the dam. Barry ran in just in time, rushing to grab those out of the car just in time, placing them safely on the ground as he moved to attack Hartley. As Sophia landed, she started to help move the bystanders out of the way. Hartley threw another wave of cars out into the dam and she yelled at Barry that she had this. She flew down, soaring through the sky, and threw shields around each of them, levitating them with her energy, and setting them down on the other end of the bridge, safe from the destruction that was going down.
"Barry, you need to disarm Hartley immediately. Immediately, do you hear me? He is a master of distraction. He is a master of hiding his true endgame," Wells warned.
"Got it doc," Sophia said, and after making sure the civilians were safe, she turned back around to see Barry and Hartley in a heated fight.
"Aha!" Cisco exclaimed, his excitement slowly morphing into worry. "Uh-oh. I figured out what Hartley stole from Star Labs, why he let himself get caught."
"Which brings us to the uh-oh," Caitlin said with a worried frown.
"He has all the data on Barry's molecular scans."
"Why would he want that? And why not Sophia's?"
"It wouldn't affect her, not like the way it would affect Barry. He can get Barry's frequency. Barry, Sophia you need to get out of there! You need to get out of there immediately." Sophia didn't hear much of what they were saying as she tried to block Rathaways sonic blasts with her shields, giving Barry enough time to run in and rip the gloves off Hartley, sending him to the floor.
"It's over, you lose," Barry said to Hartley, causing the Pied Piper to scoff.
"Amazing, he replaced me with you? Total moron. I got you with the same trick twice." Hartley taunted, and Sophia's eyes went wide as she realised what he meant. She didn't have enough time to warn Barry, when Hartley's gloves started to vibrate, and Barry started shaking violently, yelling in agonising pain as the gloves matched the frequency at which his body was running at, sending him into shock.
Sophia sprang into action immediately, flying over to Hartley and punching him in the jaw, her knuckles glowing cobalt as they made contact with his cheek, sending him stumbling backwards as he crashed into the concrete barrier behind him. She then turned around, sending a wave of electrical energy into the gloves, completely frying the system. Hartley groaned in pain and looked up at the Sapphire knight standing a few feet away from him. He thought she would have been preoccupied with helping people escape, but he had underestimated her powers. Sophia stalked over to him, ignoring everything else. Hartley had caused so much destruction, and he had hurt Barry, nearly killing him. Her eyes glowed a bright sapphire as Hartley stood up, trying to balance himself after being hit so hard. She moved forward effortlessly, and roundhouse kicked him in the head, knocking him out cold in one swift motion.
Breathing heavily, she focused her attention on Barry who was heaving on the ground, spitting some blood out of his mouth. She was by his side within seconds, helping him up.
"You alright?" She asked in concern.
"Yeah," Barry yelled and she winced. Clearly his hearing was off. "That was a pretty sweet kick," He mentioned loudly.
"Well, he was starting to piss me off."
"Remind me to never piss you off," Barry laughed.
"Come on, let's get you back to Star Labs, you're bleeding everywhere." Sophia mentioned with a small frown as Barry wiped the blood from the side of his mouth, wincing in pain as they left for Star Labs dragging the trash that was Hartley Rathaway in tow.
"How do you feel?" Sophia asked Barry. She was worried that whatever Rathaway did to Barry would have lasting side-effects, but with his unnatural ability to heal at such fast rates, she was sure that whatever pain or changes he was feeling at this current moment, would be gone within the next few hours.
"Fine! I mean there is a little ringing in my ears, but other than that I'm good, so…" Barry yelled as he walked back into the cortex with Sophia, both of them changed in their regular clothes.
"You're speaking very loudly," Caitlin mentioned and Barry smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry."
"It's okay, it'll pass."
"Nice moves out there Soph," Cisco commented, giving her a fist-bump and she had a smug smile on her face, happy that they had caught Rathaway.
"Thank you."
"Anytime."
"I think I'm gonna take my doctor's advice and go lie down."
"You do that sweetie," Sophia laughed as Cisco went to go and lay down, finally getting some rest. "Man, I feel like I'm hung over times ten," Cisco mumbled and Sophia looked at Barry, smiling as they found the situation humorous.
"I'm going to meet Joe, do you want to tag along?"
"Mmm. I think I'll hang around here for a little bit. But we are meeting up later tonight." Sophia said softly as she stepped closer to Barry. When he didn't reply, she gave him an incredulous look. "Oh, I forgot you're deaf now," She mumbled. "My place in an hour." She said louder thus time, giving Barry a kiss on his cheek as he laughed, responding with a peck on her forehead, and zooming off to see Joe.
Sophia and Cisco walked side by side as they went to visit Hartley back in his cell, who was starting to come too after being knocked out for the last few hours.
"Your evil hearing aids won't be able to help you escape this time," Cisco said as Hartley stood up. "So I'd get comfy."
"You must be enjoying this Cisco," Hartley said, a look of distaste on his face as he pursed his lips.
"I am," Cisco said smugly.
"And you too Sophia, I see you enjoyed taking me down, it must be nice to feel some sense of accomplishment." Sophia rolled her eyes at his misogynistic comment. He had been making them all day and she was fed up with the Pied Piper.
"I'd have no problem doing it again if that's what you're wondering."
"Ah, well, if that scares you, I can't imagine how you're gonna feel when you open up these doors- and let me out of here."
"Hmm, maybe I'm going deaf, cause I could've sworn you just said I'm gonna let you out."
"And very soon." Sophia scoffed at his comment. Doesn't this guy know when he's beat?
"And why would we ever do that?" Sophia threw at Hartley, her arms crossed in front of her.
"Because, I know where Ronnie Raymond is. I know what really happened to him that night, and I know how to save him… Oh, and I know what happened to your little friend Anna, you'd be surprised to find out where she disappeared off too."
Sophia and Cisco turned to each other with worried expressions, and wide eyes at Hartley's words. There was one thing running through both of their heads at that precise moment.
How did he know?
A/N – P.s. it's late, so please forgive me for any grammatical errors, I just wanted to get this chapter posted.
So a bit more fluff and love between Barry and Sophia. I must admit, that I loved writing Sophia's fighting technique to be a bit more edgy when dealing with Rathaway. I mean, he was practically killing the man that she loves, so she didn't take any prisoners. I watched a few videos on that kick, to master the technique looks like terribly hard work, and I'm sure that she practiced and practiced during training. I'd like to think that Oliver taught her that move. Suffice to say that everyone on the team was thoroughly surprised with that little development.
Ooh and cliffhanger! What does Hartley know and how does he know it? Guess we'll have to wait and see. This chapter was a bit slow in terms of plot development, but I thought it was just enough to keep you entertained for now. The next few chapters get intense. Also, I start my studies again in a week, so if my updates are a little bit delayed by a few days give or take, please stay with me, I'm trying my best to pre-prepare chapters, but I'm posting them faster than I am getting them pumped out, and that's because they're so damn large. This one's nearly 12,000 words. But I promise, I'm here, and I won't leave you without anything for too long, if anything I'd cut my chapters down a bit shorter to make it easier to post.
I won't abandon you or this story I promise!
I cannot believe we've reached 93 followers and 75 favourites. It's amazing, and I have to thank every single one of you for every follow, favourite and review.
Replies: I replied to most via PM, the others are below.
Looney Lovegood: Glad that you enjoyed it! Woah, you binge read 104k? That's intense, and I commend you on your efforts. Love that you're enjoying the story. Well, as you said, here is the rest. I'll hopefully be updating a new chapter every 7-10 days, depending on how fast I can get some stuff written.
Ms. O'Leary: That's alright. Glad you loved both chapters. Yup! They were quite the rollercoasters weren't they? Plenty of angst and drama to go around for days. I love Captain Cold, he's such a great character to write, and I cannot wait to bring him back in a few chapters! For sure, they're in this together for the long run, and they're just realising it now. Hope you liked this one.